5/28-6/5 | Getting Things Done

TLDR

I've done a lot of interior and exterior work. The house is coming along really well and I'm excited to share final photos and videos in my presentation at the end of next week. I also did interviews with Darren Schroeder and Clive Knights and took away a lot of really useful information. Also, Nathan Hamilton, an architect at Allied Works, and I are scheduling a time to meet up at their studio next week.

How's the House Look Like?

I think this project has been going really well! I've been able to do a lot more than I expected I could mainly because I have been able to climb over the obstacles of learning Revit. It's certainly true that Revit has peculiarities that make it difficult as an intro program, but once I got a handle on those, the rest of the functionality works great.

All of this being said, I'm a bit apprehensive about sharing everything that I've worked on right now, mainly because it still might change and also I think that it would be worth waiting for the finished result. In this blog post, I'll include some close-up shots of parts of either the house or the outside environment but not much more. I will, however, go over exactly what I have been able to do during the third week.

A corner of the bedroom

I've been able to work a lot on the interior. I have finished the bedroom and bathroom section with the only remaining spaces being the kitchen and the living area (which kind of connect together into one cohesive environment anyways).

A shelf in the bathroom

I've also been able to modify my roof. I previously had it as a flat piece of metal, but I made a custom cladding tile that I could cover my roof with.

Metal cladding on the roof

I've also added proper windows. Previously, I just had big openings where the windows would be, but I have been able to custom create windows that fit the slanted walls as well as the corners of the living area. I also made the ceiling-wall-floor window section, which easily became my favorite place in the house.

A glass corner in the study area

Surprisingly, one of the most difficult parts of this project was creating the environment, which I still haven't finished. It's pretty hard to imitate nature because even if you're random, it doesn't always look natural so you have to strike a delicate balance. The purpose of this environment is to maximize the visual effect of the building.

The surrounding forest

Local Architect Interviews

The interviews I had with Darren Schroeder and Clive Knights were really cool! Each one lasted about 1.5 hours and I learned so much from both of them.

My first interview was with Darren. He showed me two of his more recent project and gave me a detailed look at what actually goes into an architectural project. I quickly realized that there were so many things that are needed in a formal project that I just don't have in my project, which is fine. The purpose of this senior project is for me to learn as much as I can and create a house that I'm proud of in the process, which I feel is definitely what I have been achieving. Darren also shared with me his path to becoming an independent architect, working in multiple firms and designing large buildings for companies before creating his own company and focusing more on residential remodeling and design. He gave me many great names in the architecture world to research and learn from, which I definitely will. I then showed him my in-process house. We talked about more conceptual elements and additions I can make to the house as well as my final presentation. One thing that I definitely want to do is do more research regarding my construction materials and site.

Darren walking me through one of his projects

The second interview with Clive was also really great! He teaches at the PSU School of Architecture, so we ended up talking more about my building and what changes could be made. We brainstormed a lot of great ideas that I will definitely include in my final version. One big change that I, unfortunately, might not be able to do is changing the slant angle of the kitchen-living half of the house. Instead of making them perfectly symmetrical, it would be really cool to have them just slightly different. At this point in the project with so many elements within the house, it is definitely above my limited expertise to make a change like that without basically redoing that half of the house, which would take too much time. If I realize that I can actually make that change easily, I will do so. We also talked a lot about light and the path of the sun and how I could change the orientation of my house to maximize the daylight.

Clive and I discussing windows

Overall, the interviews were great and I greatly appreciate both of them taking time out of their day to meet with me and teach me more about architecture!

Allied Works

If everything goes smoothly, I should be meeting up with Nathan Hamilton at Allied Works next week, which is great! This tour of the space is definitely more for me than the project, and I'm really excited to hopefully meet in person and not on Zoom.